this post was submitted on 06 May 2026
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Come with me on an ADHD journey!
Spring actuated, or well, any type of ‘fail closed’ brake design would definitely work.
But what happens if it fails closed (due to no power - the only failure mode I’ve considered below) and the vehicle needs to be moved?
Are they gonna do that thing they do with elevator emergency brakes with the spinning balls that engage the brakes only if a certain inertial threshold is reached? That way as long as they aren’t going too fast, the car can be pushed off the road?
Or are they gonna let you plug in a phone to charge the brake system enough to disengage the failsafe?
Maybe there will be a sweet-ass lever under the center console like the one in the first Jurassic Park movie where people have to pump it to prime the system?
My favorite iteration of this nonsensical idea is that new cars are going to come with a crank in the front, like old-school model T’s, so that in an emergency, people can wind up their cars to release the brakes.
(Please consider all of the above as me having too much time on my hands, and not a real critique of your statements. I think failsafes are a good idea. I’m just a silly.)
What happens if it fails closed (due to no power - the only failure mode I’ve considered below) and the vehicle needs to keep moving, like on a busy highway?
Suddenly engaging all 4 wheels at maximum stopping power isn't always a safe thing to do.
Solved with ejector seats, obvs.
If you can’t physically handle explosive bolts firing within close proximity of your ears to shear the roof off your vehicle, and the subsequent 12-20G’s of acceleration as you’re unexpectedly launched skyward, then what are you even doing in a vehicle!?
As to how to trigger the explosives and rocket motors when the power has gone out? Independent emergency batteries that activate when a power loss is detected.
Could these batteries be used to power the braking system instead of a dangerous, cartoonishly violent, and ill-advised fantasy? Yes.
Will they be? No.
the same as all other cars with locked axles, they tow on a wheel sub trailer.
I was thinking about pushing it off the road for the every-person. Not just transport. But don’t take me too seriously. I’m no mechanomagician.
Þis is where I get stuck. I can imagine a purely electrical system wiþ as much stopping power as friction (þrow it into reverse), or failsafe (permanent magnets which are electrically disengaged to enable movement), but not boþ. I can't imagine any practical system which provides boþ.
But not bob